By-pass switch



G. R. M CLOUD BY-PASS SWITCH Aug. 8, 1967 Filed Aug. 18, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet l G. R. M CLOUD BY-PASS SWITCH Aug. 8, 1967 3 shetssheet 2 Filed Aug. 18, 19%

Aug. 8, 1967 G. R. MCCLOUD BY-PASS SWITCH 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 18, 1966 Unitd States Patent 3,335,236 BY-PASS SWITCH George R. McCloud, South Milwaukee, Wis, assiguor to McGraw-Edison Company, Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of Delaware Filed Aug. 18, 1966, 5121'. No. 573,233 7 Claims. (Cl. 200-48) This invention relates to bypass switches and more particularly to an improved by-pass switch structure and operating mechanism.

The 'by-pass switch of the present invention is of the single pull type and operated by the disconnect switch with which it is associated through the medium of a hook element carried by the movable portion of the switch assembly. The by-pass switch includes a latch member that is movable along a confined path and urged by a biasing means in one direction. The hook element engages the latch member and pivots the by-pass switch blades to a bypassing condition as the switch is moved toward an open position. After a predetermined rotation of the movable switch element, the hook element releases the latch member and the latch member is then urged by the biasing means into a position behind a blade stop which acts as a cooperating latch element to prevent the by-pass blade from being jarred open by vibration or other accidental causes. The by-pass remains closed until the movable element of the associated switch is moved toward a closed position at which time the hook element engages and retains the by-pass blade latch causing it to move away from latched engagement with the stop and pivots the by-pass into the open position.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved by-pass blade structure which automatically moves between open and closed positions in response to the functioning of an associated switch element.

It is further object of this invention to provide a bypass blade structure that is positively retained in both open and closed positions against accidental movement.

It is also an object of this invention to provide an improved by-pass switch contact means.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a regulator disconnect switch including the by-pass switch of this invention With certain portions shown in phantom view;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the switch of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a view taken along line 33 of FIGURE 2 with one of the hook elements shown in phantom view;

FIGURE 4 is a side elevation of the bypass blades and the terminal elements interconnected thereby; and

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the by-pass blade and the terminal members electrically connected thereby with portions broken away.

Referring to FIGURE 1 a switch assembly is mounted on a pair of insulators 11, 12 which are in turn supported on a channel base member 13. Each of the insulators 11, 12 have a vertically spaced dual terminal assembly mounted thereon. Supporting the blade assemblies 15, 16 at the hinge ends thereof are a pair of terminal members 17, 18 respectively. A contact support 20 bolted to insulator 12 has the terminal 18 secured thereto and also 3,335,236 Patented Aug. 8, 1967 supports an insulator assembly 22 including a ceramic insulator member 23 that isolates the terminals 17 and 18 from one another. The terminal 17 is connected to the insulator assembly 22 by bolts 24 which project from the upper surface of the insulator 23 and extend through a spacer 25. At the latch end of the switch blade assemblies 15 and 16, a similar assembly mounts terminals 27 and 28 on the contact support 29 carried by insulator 11 with the terminals electrically isolated from one another by the ceramic insulator 30. The blade assembly 15 is pivotally connected to the terminal 17 by a bolt 32 which extends through apertures in the blades 34 and pierce extruded openings in the terminal member 17 with intimate high pressure contact between switch blades and terminal maintained by spring washers 33 at either side of the blade assembly. In like manner blade assembly 16 is pivotally connected to the terminal 18 by bolt 35 and spring washers 36.

The structure of the blade assemblies 15, 16 and the latch and pryout devices provided by the pull rings 37, 38 and latches 39, .0 are fully described in the co-pending application Ser. No. 319,432, filed Oct. 28, 1963, now Patent No. 3,248,510, issued Apr. 26, 1966, assigned to the same assignee. Since the specific structural details of the switch blade assembliesform no part of the present invention, such will not be described in detail herein.

A by-pass blade assembly 42 is mounted on a terminal member 27 by a bolt 43 which passes through pierce extruded openings in terminal member 27 and apertures in switch blades 44 with a nut 45, jam nut 46 and spring washers 47 cooperating to retain the blades in high pressure electrical contact with the terminal member 27. At one end switch blades -44 are also aligned and spaced by a bolt 49 secured through switch blade apertures with a spacing sleeve 50 extending between the blades and encircling the shank of the bolt. At the opposite end the switch blades 44 are spaced a greater distance apart to permit the by-pass blades to swing upwardly without interfering with blade assembly 15.

By-pass switch blades 44 have two pairs of horizontally aligned apertures 52, 53 formed therein. A movable latch is carried by the by-pass blade assembly and includes a generally U-shaped locking element 55 which has the bight portion 56 thereof extending through apertures 52 and a latch bar 57 which extends through the blade apertures 53 and the apertured flattened end portions of the U-shaped locking element. A pair of tension springs 58 each respectively secured at the ends thereof to the latch bar 57 and the divergent end portions 59 of the bypass switch blades 44 serve to urge the movable latch toward the adjacent end of the by-pass switch blade assembly 42. A pair of rivets 60 extend through apertures in the vertically extending portion of the terminal member 27 and secure, at one side thereof, the latch retainer 61 and at the opposite side a blade stop 62. The blade stop 62 presents a pair of generally triangularly shaped flange portions 63 that project away from the terminal 27 to provide a camming surface 64 and a blade stop or cooperating latch surface 65.

The switchblade assembly 15 has mounted at each outside surface of blades 34, a latch engaging depending hook element 66 that projects from the lower edge of the assembly. The depending hooks engage the latch bar 57 intermediate by-pass blades 44. When the switchblade assembly 15 is in the closed position as shown in FIG- URES 1 through 3 the depending hooks confine the movable latch and retain the by-pass blade assembly 42 in the fully opened position. As the switchblade assembly is pivoted clockwise as seen in FIGURES l and 3, toward an open position out of contact with terminal member 27 the depending hooks 66, through engagement with latch bar 57, initiate a counterclockwise movement of the bypass blade assembly 42 toward a closed position of engagement with the upwardly projecting contact 68 mounted on the terminal member 28. As theby-pass blade assembly 42 pivots, the bight portion 56 of the U-shaped locking element 55 rides over the camming surface 64 of the blade stop 62 and the latch bar 57 is released from engagement with the depending hooks 66 following sufficient rotation of the by-pass blade assembly 42 in a counterclockwise direction to permit the locking element bight portion 56 to be moved by the tension springs into a position confronting the cooperating latch surface 65. In this condition, the driving connection between by-pass blade assembly 42 and the blade assembly 15 has been termniated with the by-pass-blade assembly locked in the by-pass position until the locking element 55 has been positively moved against the force of the tension springs 58 to remove the same from the abutting latching engagement with the blade stop 62. Itwill also be observed that as the blade assembly 15 is moved toward a disconnect position out of electrical contact with the terminal 27, the by-pass blade assembly 42 is carried into electrical engagement with the contact 68 prior to the interruption of electrical contact between the bladeassembly 15 and terminal member 27.

When the blade assembly 15 is pivoted from an opened position toward a closed position (a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIGURES 1 and 3), the lower longitudinally projecting portions 70 of the depending hooks pivot past the latch bar 57 which then engages the camming surface 71 that moves the locking element 55 against the biasing force of the tension spring 58 out of latching engagement with the blade stop 62 and thereafter initiates pivotal movement of the by-pass blade assembly 42 out of engagement with the contact 68 following rotation of the blade assembly 15 into a closed position with respect to terminal member 27 with the latch bar 57 confined by the depending hooks 66.

As seen in FIGURE 5, the contact member 68 supported on terminal member 28 which is engaged by the by-pass blade assembly 42 is formed of a pair of U-shaped members 74, 75 fabricated of strip material. The U-shaped contact elements 74, 75 are secured to one another and to the terminal member 28 by a pair of rivets which pass through the bight portion thereof. The generally parallel adjacent flange portions 78, 79 of the contact elements are spaced a distance equal to the thickness of the bypass blades 44 and are assembled with manufacturing tolerances that permit parallelism to slight convergence to secure a positive contact when the respective by-pass blade is disposed therebetween. The flange corners 80 disposed at the location of the first engagement by the bypass switchblade assembly are turned away from one another to provide a converging guiding surface for receiving the respective by-pass blade.

Although but one embodiment has been shown and described, it will'be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made herein without departing from the spirit of the invention or from the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An electric switch comprising first and second terminal members; a pair of switch blades carried by said switch in generally parallel relation for unitary pivotal movement into and out of a first position of contacting engagement with said first terminal member; a pair of generally parallel by-pass blades interconnected for unitary pivotal movement into and out of a second position of conductively connecting electrical contact between said first and second terminal members; movable latch means carried by said by-pass blades; a blade stop member presenting a surface in the path of said movable latch means resisting movement of said by-pass blades away from said second position; biasing means urging said movable latch means toward a blade stop engaging position; means providing a driving connection between said switch blades and said by-pass blades to pivot said by-pass blades to said second position as said switch blades are pivoted away from said first position, said driving connection being thereafter terminated by further pivotal movement of said switch blades away from said first position; said movable latch means being moved by said biasing means to a third position confronting said blade stop upon termination of said driving connection, whereby pivoting of said by-pass blades away from said second position is resisted; and cam means associated with said switch blades to move said movable latch means away from said third position and re-establish said driving connection to move said by-pass blades away from said second position as said switch blades are pivoted toward said first position.

2. The switch of claim 1 wherein said by-pass blades are pivoted to said second position before electrical contact between said switch blades and said first terminal member is interrupted as said switch blades are pivoted away from said first position and electrical contact is established between said switch blades and said first terminal member before said by-pass blades are moved out of said second position as, said switch blades are pivoted toward said first position.

3. The switch of claim 1 wherein said by-pass blades each has first and second elongated apertures, longitudinally spaced and laterally aligned and said movable latch means includes a generally U-shaped element with the bight portion thereof disposed in said first by-pass blade apertures and a bar element extending through said second bypass blade apertures and connected at the ends thereof to said U-shaped element.

4. ,The switch of claim 3 wherein said blade stop is mounted on said first terminal member and said blade stop surface is substantially radially disposed with respect to the axis about which said by-pass blades pivot.

5. An electric switch comprising first and second terminal members; a pair of switch blades carried by said switch in generally parallel relation for unitary pivotal movement into and out of a first position of contacting engagement with said first terminal member; a pair of generally parallel by-pass blades interconnected for unitary pivotal movement into and out of a second position of conductively connecting electrical contact between said first and second terminal members; movable latch means carried by said by-pass blades; a blade stop member presenting a surface in the path of said movable latch means resisting movement of said by-pass blades away from said second position; biasing means urging said movable latch means toward a blade stop engaging position; cooperating latch means carried by said pair of switch blades and engageable with said movable latch means to provide a driving connection therebetween for moving said by-pass blades into said second position as said switch blades are moved away from said first position and moving said bypass blades away from said second position as said switch blades are moved into said first position; and cam means carried by said switch blades and engageable with said movable latch means as said switch blades are pivoted toward said first position to move said movable latch means out of engagement with said blade stop.

6. The switch of claim 5 wherein said cooperating latch means comprises a hook member having a U-shaped surface opening away from vthe axis about which said switch blades pivot and said cam means comprises a surface presented by said hook member which forms a continuous surface with one leg of said U-shaped surface.

7. The switch of claim 6 wherein said pair of by-pass blades each has first and second elongated apertures longitudinally spaced and respectively laterally aligned and said movable latch means includes a generally U-shaped element having the bight portion thereof disposed in said first by-pass blade apertures and a bar element extending through said second by-pass blade apertures and connected at the ends thereof to the legs of said U-shaped element.

6 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2/1958 Steinmayer et a1. 200-48 X 1/1961 Bridges 200-48 4/1966 McCloud 200-462 6/1966 Ball et al. 200-48 ROBERT K. SCHAEFER, Primary Examiner.

10 H. HOHAUSER, Assistant Examiner. 

5. AN ELECTRIC SWITCH COMPRISING FIRST AND SECOND TERMINAL MEMBERS; A PAIR OF SWITCH BLADES CARRIED BY SAID SWITCH IN GENERALLY PARALLEL RELATION FOR UNITARY PIVOTAL MOVEMENT INTO AND OUT OF A FIRST POSITION OF CONTACTING ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID FIRST TERMINAL MEMBER; A PAIR OF GENERALLY PARALLEL BY-PASS BLADES INTERCONNECTED FOR UNITARY PIVOTAL MOVEMENT INTO AND OUT OF A SECOND POSITION OF CONDUCTIVELY CONNECTING ELECTRICAL CONTACT BETWEEN SAID FIRST AND SECOND TERMINAL MEMBERS; MOVABLE LATCH MEANS CARRIED BY SAID BY-PASS BLADES; A BLADE STOP MEMBER PRESENTING A SURFACE IN THE PATH OF SAID MOVABLE LATCH MEANS RESISTING MOVEMENT OF SAID BY-PASS BLADES AWAY FROM SAID SECOND POSITION; BIASING MEANS URGING SAID MOVABLE LATCH MEANS TOWARD A BLADE STOP ENGAGING POSITION; COOPERATING LATCH MEANS CARRIED BY SAID PAIR OF SWITCH BLADES AND ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID MOVABLE LATCH MEANS TO PROVIDE A DRIVING CONNECTION THEREBETWEEN FOR MOVING SAID BY-PASS BLADES INTO SAID SECOND POSITION AS SAID SWITCH BLADES ARE MOVED AWAY FROM SAID FIRST POSITION AND MOVING SAID BYPASS BLADES AWAY FROM SAID SECOND POSITION AS SAID SWITCH BLADES ARE MOVED INTO SAID FIRST POSITION; AND CAM MEANS CARRIED BY SAID SWITCH BLADES AND ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID MOVABLE LATCH MEANS AS SAID SWITCH BLADES ARE PIVOTED TOWARD SAID FIRST POSITION TO MOVE SAID MOVABLE LATCH MEANS OUT OF ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID BLADE STOP. 